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Message: [QUOTE="jonson, post: 3782736, member: 6034"] Although there is no doubt that Geno's scheduling out of conference is the toughest in WBB year in and year out, I do think that the challenges that accompany being in a conference in which there are teams stronger than has been the case in the AAC or, I suspect, will be in the new Big East are different--and potentially greater--than those posed by playing even more highly rated teams out of conference. Why? Because scouting within a conference will likely be much more thorough, teams will have more points of comparison (common measuring sticks, so to speak), and--most important--will learn (steal) from one another. Some of this is possible out of conference as well, of course, but it's more difficult and, imo, much less likely. So, if team A in the conference does something really well, but team B discovers an answer, everyone else will go on to do just that and/or refine that "answer" until team A figures out a way to adjust. (Sort of like a 7 game series in the NBA.) Likewise, a weakness that might not be apparent out of conference is often exposed once conference play begins and then exploited in game after game until, again, adjustments can be made (assuming they can). I'd add to this the physical, but especially mental, grind of playing game after game with a margin of error much narrower than the one UCONN enjoyed in the AAC and will enjoy, I believe, in the Big East. One could certainly argue that the absence of something like this hasn't hurt UCONN since the demise of the old big East, but--post Stewie--I don't think it's helped despite Geno's attempt to schedule as many challenges as possible out of conference. [/QUOTE]

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